1986: A LOOK BACK: The Medvid follow-up (12/28/86)

1986: A LOOK BACK

The Medvid follow-up

Several important developments occurred in relation to the Medvid case this year.

Myroslav Medvid is the Ukrainian sailor who jumped from his Soviet freighter, the Marshal Koniev, into the Mississippi River on October 24, 1985, near New Orleans in search of political asylum. As he was being returned to his ship by U.S. authorities he again jumped into the river. Later, he was interrogated by U.S. authorities who determined he did not wish to stay in the United States and was again returned to his ship. The Marshal Koniev set sail for the Soviet Union on November 9 with Mr. Medvid on board.

The most important was the creation of an investigative body, under the aegis of the Helsinki Commission, to look into the government's handling of the Medvid case and its application of asylum procedures generally. Also discussed in some length in the press was the theory of two Medvids: it has been alleged that the Medvid who said he wanted to return to the Soviet Union was really an impostor and the real Medvid returned to the USSR against his will.

To dispel such rumors, TASS reported on January 22 that Mr. Medvid was alive and well, and living with his family in Silets, Ukraine, a town just outside Lviv. The reports stated that the seaman was planning to register for school and repeated the story which was dispatched from the Soviet Union soon after he returned there that he had fallen overboard while working on the Soviet freighter.

Furthermore, the February 11 issue of Molod Ukrainy ran an alleged interview with Mr. Medvid in which he reiterated that he had fallen overboard into the Mississippi and blamed Ukrainian emigres and "former OUN members," "reactionaries," who continue to fight for his release from "Bolshevik imprisonment." Accompanying the article was a large photograph of the sailor and his family. Experts later ascertained the photo was a forgery which was touched up by airbrushing. The article added to further uncertainty as to Mr. Medvid's whereabouts.

Rep. Fred J. Eckert (R-N.Y.) began a letter-writing campaign to Mr. Medvid, and for the past year, at least one member of the Congress has penned a letter to the young seaman each month. On April 3, TASS reported that Mr. Medvid wished that the congressman and others would halt the letter-writing campaign. He challenged Rep. Eckert to come to Silets and he would show him his birth certificate and other pertinent documents to prove his identity. The congressman accepted the invitation, but has not yet been able to make the trip.

This year, an investigation was also launched to find out what really happened after Mr. Medvid jumped ship. Sen. Gordon J. Humphrey (R-N.H.) pushed hard for a separate panel to investigate the incident in the beginning months of the year but was blocked in doing so by Sens. Alan J. Simpson (R-Wyo.) and Robert Dole (R-Kansas) on the grounds that the Immigration and Refugee Policy Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Simpson, was looking into the matter. But, Sen. Humphrey would not give up, and after intensive negotiating, the Medvid investigation was turned over to the Helsinki Commission on March 13 and $200,000 was allocated for it from the Senate Contingency Fund. There was deliberation, however, on whether it was legal to take the money from this fund. After seven weeks of discussions the Senate decided to release the funds, and the investigation into the matter finally started. Two investigators have been hired and they must present their findings in May 1987.

On October 24, 1986, The New York City Tribune ran a full-page advertisement, with the signatures of 144 individuals and organizations commemorating the anniversary of Mr. Medvid's failed attempt for freedom.

And finally this year attorneys Andrew Fylypovych, Orest Jejna and Julian E. Kulas filed suit on behalf of the Ukrainian American Bar Association in which they alleged that legal representatives for Mr. Medvid were denied due process by not being allowed to meet with and represent the sailor at the time of his defection.

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